If you’re like most people, you use a variety of programs and settings to get the job done. But sometimes, you might need to change your environment variables—settings that are specific to your computer or operating system. In this article, we’ll show you how to edit environment variables on Windows 10 or 11. First, open the “Start” menu and search for “environment variables.” When the Environment Variables window opens, click on the “Edit” button next to the “User environment variables” section. In the User environment variables window, you’ll see a list of all the environment variables that are currently set up on your computer. To change one of these variables, double-click on it and enter your new value in the “Variable name” field. (For example, if you want to set the C:\ drive as your default drive letter, enter “C:”.) Once you’ve entered your new value, press OK to save it and close the Environment Variables window. You’re now ready to apply this new setting by restarting your computer or using one of your favorite applications. ..
Editing your PC’s environment variables can save you time in Command Prompt and make your scripts more concise. It also lets you customize where Windows stores certain files. Find out how to edit them here.
How Environment Variables Work
Environment variables can be used to point to or set important directories, like the location of the Windows Temp folder, or they can they relay important information about your PC, like the version of Windows it is running or the number of processor cores it has available. Environment variables be read by any program or script that runs on your computer. Environment variables can be defined for individual user accounts, or on a system-wide basis.
One environment variable of note is the Path variable. Path defines what folders are checked for executables when a command is run in a terminal or a script. Take Notepad as an example — you can type notepad into Command Prompt and it will launch immediately. If you type chrome, however, you’ll get an error message. The error occurs because the Notepad executable is in a folder defined in the Path, but the Chrome executable is not.
By default, Path only points to a few Windows folders, but you can easily add more.
How to Edit Environment Variables
There are some minor differences between the user interfaces of Windows 10 and Windows 11, but the basic process of editing environment variables is the same.
To configure your environment variables, click the Start button, then type “environment properties” into the search bar and hit Enter. In the System Properties window, click “Environment Variables.”
Click on the variable you’d like to change, click “Edit.”
Many environment variables will simply take a name and value, like “Number of processors.” All you have to do to edit them is to change the value, and click “OK.”
Adding an environment variable works the exact same way, except you must specify the variable name and value. The variable value can take multiple values if you want, but the values must be separated by semicolons. Once you’ve named your variable and assigned a value, click “OK.”
Some environment variables, like Path, look a little different, though they function in exactly the same way. The Path variable is given as a list from which you can add, edit, or delete entries.
You can add another folder to the Path by clicking “New,” and then specifying the folder.
RELATED: How to Move Windows’ Temporary Folders to Another Drive
If you write a lot of batch or PowerShell scripts, or frequently use non-Windows command-line applications, it is probably worth the effort to customize your environment variables — you’ll save a ton of time in the long run.
